NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A burglar who wears an Amazon delivery vest has stolen $35,000 in jewelry and other valuables from homes in Northwest Queens in a year-long spree, police said Wednesday as they released surveillance images of the suspect.
The man has been targeting homes in Sunnyside, Woodside, Long Island City and Astoria since January 2023—wiggling his way through windows or entering through unlocked doors during the morning or afternoon hours, according to the NYPD.
Detectives believe he’s behind at least three burglaries in Astoria; two in Long Island City; three in Sunnyside; and one in Woodside.
Five of the burglaries were in 2023, while four more were reported across January, February and March of this year.
No one was injured in the break-ins, police said.
The earliest robbery linked to the suspect was in Astoria on Jan. 26, 2023, when he allegedly went through the window of a home near 37th Street and 28th Avenue in Astoria and stole $4,400 worth of jewelry.
The most recent break-in was in Woodside on March 5. According to police, he entered a residence at 53rd Street and Skillman Avenue through a window around 8:30 a.m., stealing $6,500 in jewelry and $200 in cash before fleeing into the 52nd Street 7 station.
Surveillance footage from the NYPD shows him wearing an Amazon vest--and exhaling a vaping cloud--during a burglary in Sunnyside on Sept. 29, 2023, in which $2,800 in cash and $480 worth of property was stolen from a home at 39th Place and 43rd Avenue.
He apparently went off the radar after the September burglary, but he was back at it in January, police said, with two burglaries in Astoria and Long Island City, and another in Sunnyside in February.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.